No breakthrough in Jaipur investigation (Lead)

New Delhi, May 15 (IANS) Two days after the serial bombings that ripped through Jaipur leaving 61 people dead, the Indian government said there was yet no breakthrough in investigation to establish the perpetrators of the dastardly act. India’s National Security Advisor (NSA) M.K. Narayanan Thursday informed the cabinet “there was no breakthrough yet in the investigations being conducted in blasts in Jaipur”, well-placed sources told IANS.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired the cabinet meeting, which discussed the Jaipur terror attacks in great detail and demanded better coordination among the intelligence agencies to prevent such attacks in future.

Sources said Narayanan, who briefed the cabinet along with Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar, was himself monitoring investigation into the serial terror blasts, the worst India has faced in the past four years.

After the cabinet meeting, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters that Chandrasekhar and Narayanan briefed the ministers on the blasts in Jaipur - but he gave no further details.

The government has engaged a host of investigating agencies to apprehend those behind Tuesday’s terror attack.

Sources said the Intelligence Bureau (IB), forensic experts, and senior home ministry officials were busy piecing together loose ends to trace the “perpetrators of the dastardly act.”

Though initial investigation has pointed the needle of suspicion towards Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI), sources said investigating agencies were not yet “possessing any clues” to say anything with certainty.

“The blasts are certainly the handiwork of terror outfits,” the sources said.

Uttar Pradesh Police Thursday detained Madhukar Mishra, the owner of Naveen Computer Jobs, a cyber cafe in Sahibabad area of Ghaziabad on the border with the national capital, from where an e-mail was sent allegedly by a group claiming responsibility for blasts in Jaipur.

UP’s Additional Director General of Police Brij Lal told reporters in Lucknow that a sketch of the man who sent the e-mail was being drawn on the basis of the information provided by the cyber cafe owner.

The ID used for sending the e-mail - “guru_al_hindi_jaipur@yahoo.co.uk” - is similar to “guru_alhindi@yahoo.fr” from which some television channels had received an email minutes before blasts rocked the holy city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh Nov 23, 2007.

The explosive devices used in Jaipur Tuesday were fitted with timers and planted on cycles, a method similar to the one used in last year’s blasts at court premises in Uttar Pradesh in which HuJI was involved, police said.

A union minister told IANS that the cabinet meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, spent most part of the one hour debating various aspects of the Tuesday blasts in Jaipur.

“There was unanimity on the need to take more steps to strengthen the intelligence network,” the minister said.

The Jaipur explosions, which also left 216 people injured, were not on the agenda of the cabinet meeting, which was called mainly to discuss three listed issues.

Although none of the ministers blamed Pakistan by name, there were references to the alleged involvement of “one terrorist group across the border” and of “foreign intelligence agencies”.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh said: “The Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government should make immediate diplomatic efforts to put ISI (Inter Services Intelligence of Pakistan) on the international watch list.”

In a statement issued Thursday, Singh alleged: “The existence of over 500 sleeper modules operated directly and indirectly by the ISI in almost all parts of the country is a clear indication that India is virtually sitting on a tinder box.”